What’s in it for Me?
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By Sir Knight Fred M. Duncan
he question, “What’s in it for me?” was asked of our Lodge secretary after our increased dues notices were received. My response to the question was “What?” Was your response similar? The question is not new and may have been asked as often as the comments regarding the content of Lodge meetings. Surely you have been asked or heard the question asked. What was your response? Unless you’re a political scientist, philosopher, or motivational speaker your answer may have been incorrect. Paul Harvey would tell “the rest of the story” later in his daily broadcasts. You can do the same by googling the references in this article for further information. To answer the title question Sir Knights, we must know the why of the question. For answers and background information we will get membership numbers from the Masonic Service Association (MSA), then we will go outside Masonry and review a portion of a doctoral thesis in philosophy, the research of a political scientist, and an opinion of a motivational speaker. The MSA established a Masonic Information Center Task Force to specifically study our membership numbers which are on a steady decline. The results of the task force findings are published under the title It’s About Time. The Task Force tabulated United States Masonic membership numbers from 1924 through 2017. The 2017 number, 1,076,626, is the lowest United States Masonic membership number to date during that period. The Craft’s membership peaked at 4,103,161
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in 1959. While Masonic membership has steadily declined, the United States population continues to steadily increase. The potential petitioner pool continues steady growth. The task force identified the following causes for our declining membership: 1. We are in a downward cycle of a cyclical membership. 2. We lost the Vietnam generation. The Vietnam generation resisted joining organizations. They were turned off by those older than thirty-five years old, and any organization that embraced traditional values was not trusted. Most Millennials or GenXers would never dream of joining a club geared to their grandparent’s activities. 3. People no longer join the way they used to. 4. We are all so busy, life styles change, and both spouses work. The MSA task force summarized their work by saying that “the numbers tell a very sad tale of the decline of one of the world’s most important fraternal organizations which is slowly fading away, as T.S. Elliot says, “...not with a bang, but with a whimper.” The MSA has documented numbers which we have heard or seen on numerous occasions. What may be surprising is the mind set of the Millennials and GenXers, since it is commonly stated that the future of Masonry september 2020
